Many of our guests ask about the Village of Wanchese located on the southern end of Roanoke Island. Wanchese is still what it has always been: “a small harbor, inset in a wide brown thatch of marsh speared with lightning-scarred deadwood, a scattering of modest homes with nets and spool ends and skiffs in most every yard and a hard-working people who sail forth to the four corners of the earth yet still believe they can hold back the floodwaters of change that have engulfed the rest of the Outer Banks. [Manteo: A Roanoke Island Town by Angel Ellis Khoury]
I was born in this tiny fishing village over 6 decades ago in a home near “Mill Landing Creek” which is where all the fishermen brought their catch of fish to be sold. My Grandparents lived in Wanchese and my Grandfather made his living fishing the sounds surrounding Roanoke Island. My Great-Grandmother Minnie supported her family by mending nets for fisherman. It was a simple lifestyle, but one I remember with fond memories. The day I was born, is remembered with much humor since there was a great deal of excitement and commotion. Apparently, my Uncle Popeye (then a teenager) was pestering my Dad during the time of waiting. My Dad became quite up-set and tied my Uncle Pop to a tree … just then I came into the world and my Dad forgot all about him in the excitement. They found him sometime later still tied to the tree.
Needless to say it was a great day. I was the first grandchild born into the family and immediately became the apple of my Grandmother’s eye. I was truly blessed to have been born into a family whose values centered around “love of God, country, family and neighbors.”